Court 'violated all the rules' in acquitting Tommy

Court 'violated all the rules' in acquitting Tommy

Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A team examining October's controversial verdict issued by the
Supreme Court exonerating Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra from all
charges has concluded that the Court violated the Criminal Code
Procedures as well as its own rules and procedures.

In a statement made available to The Jakarta Post, the team
said on Wednesday that "the Criminal Code Procedures stipulate
that an application for a review must be made by the defendant
himself or his heirs and successors, and not his lawyers as in
Tommy's case.

"The verdict has also failed to deal with the conflict between
legal certainty and the sense of justice, so that the application
for a review should have been rejected."

It was understood that the public saw the original sentence
meted out by the Court as justice being done. The review,
however, had offended against the public's sense of justice.

The statement was issued after the team met with Chief Justice
Bagir Manan at the later's office.

It said that "due to these violations, the Supreme Court must
impose stern sanctions by dismissing the three review panel
justices as they have proven themselves incapable of carrying out
their duties."

The team was referring to deputy chief justice M. Taufiq and
justices Soeharto and German Hoediarto.

The team was set up by legal experts and a number of NGOs
following the issuance of the controversial verdict.

Tommy, a flamboyant businessman and playboy who is also the
son of former President Soeharto, was captured last week after a
year-long flight from justice.

He was originally found guilty of involvement in the Goro-
Bulog land scam and was sentenced in September 1999 to 18-months
imprisonment by the Supreme Court. The sentence was imposed after
the Supreme Court reversed Tommy's acquittal by the South Jakarta
District Court.

In November 1999, Tommy went on the run only to be finally
arrested last Wednesday. While he was still at large, the Supreme
Court review panel overturned the Supreme Court's earlier verdict
on Oct. 1, 2001.

Responding to the team, Bagir said that the Supreme Court
could not quash the review panel's verdict unless they evidence
on corruption involving the review panel justices was uncovered.

"We have set up a clarification team to probe the accusations
that the judges took bribes.

"But as this clarification team is not a legal tribunal and
does not make findings of fact, any conclusions it reaches will
not affect the review panel's recent verdict," Bagir said.

He was quick to add that "it will be difficult to ascertain
whether the justices were bribed or not, unless Tommy, or his
lawyers, admit it."

When asked whether the court could impose interim sanctions on
the justices pending the outcome of the clarification team's
investigation, Bagir said: "I can't impose any sanctions as they
would only interfere with the current process."

He added that there were no grounds for imposing sanctions as
the accusations about the justices represented mere assumptions
by the public.

"Pak Taufiq himself has expressed his readiness to be
questioned by the police over the allegations," he said.

The NGOs making up the team include Indonesian Corruption
Watch (ICW), the Legal Aid Institute (LBH), and Judicial Watch.

The jurists on the team include Tomi Bustomi, a former judge,
Harkristuti Harkrisnowo, a legal expert from the University of
Indonesia, Achmad Ali, a former advisor to the late chief justice
Baharuddin Lopa, Adi Andojo, a former justice, Bambang
Widjojanto, the outgoing director of the Indonesian Legal Aid
Institute Foundation (YLBHI), Teten Masduki, chairman of ICW and
Irianto Subiakto of the LBH.

Tommy, now under police investigation, is facing three
charges, including involvement in the murder of Supreme Court
Justice M. Syafiuddin Kartasasmita, the judge who meted out his
18-month jail term, illegal possession of weapons and
masterminding a spate of bomb attacks.

The clarification team is led by Bagir himself and the team
members are Justice Mariana Sutadi, former chief justice Purwoto
Gandasubrata, and former justices Bustanul Arifin and Djoko
Sugianto.

The team is scheduled to hold a meeting on Thursday to discuss
the case.